Spackling knife tool

ABSTRACT

A spackling knife tool which performs the functions of a spackling knife, a nail puller, a picture-hanger remover, a screwdriver, and has means for gouging out cracks in plaster surfaces to provide a base to receive patching material. The tool is comprised of a flat blade member having a relatively wide end portion which serves as the spackling knife, and a shank portion to which top and bottom handle halves are riveted. At the end of the shank portion there is formed a chisel point which may be employed as a screwdriver. On each side of the shank portion adjacent the end thereof are picture-hanger removers formed by a tapered slot extending inward from the edge of the shank portion, and a pointed portion formed at the outer edge of said slots adjacent the end of the shank portion. Inwardly of the chisel point, a longitudinally oriented portion of the shank member is depressed below the plane of the blade to form a nail-puller having a bottom, side walls, and an inclined ramp leading from the bottom to the shank. The bottom and inclined wall have a nail aperture formed therein.

United States Patent [191 Cantales 1 Nov. 27, 1973 SPACKLING KNIFE TOOL[76] Inventor: Joseph Cantales, New Rochelle,

[22] Filed: Mar. 22, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 237,013

[52] US. Cl. 7/14.1 A, 254/21, 7/17 [51] Int. Cl B251 1/00, B250 1 1/00[58] Field of Search 7/14.1 A, l R, 1 B,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 705,349 7/1902 Henderson7/14.1 A

Primary Examiner-Donald G. Kelly Assistant Examiner-Roscoe V. ParkerAttorney-Edward S. Irons et a1.

[5 7 ABSTRACT A spackling knife too] which performs the functions of aspackling knife, a nail puller, a picture-hanger remover, a screwdriver,and has means for gouging out cracks in plaster surfaces to provide abase to receive patching material. The tool is comprised of a flat blademember having a relatively wide end portion which serves as thespackling knife, and a shank portion to which top and bottom handlehalves are riveted. At the end of the shank portion there is formed achisel point which may be employed as a screw driver. On each side ofthe shank portion adjacent the end thereof are picture-hanger removersformed by a tapered slot extending inward from the edge of the shankportion, and a pointed portion formed at the outer edge of said slotsadjacent the end of the shank portion. Inwardly of the chisel point, alongitudinally oriented portion of the shank member is depressed belowthe plane of the blade to form a nail-puller having a bottom, sidewalls, and an inclined ramp leading from the bottom to the shank. Thebottom and inclined wall have a nail aperture formed therein.

16 Claims, l0 Drawing Figures Patented Nov. 27, 1973 3 Sheets-Sheet lPatented Nov. 27, 1973 3,774,252

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 27 1973 3,774,252

5 Sheets-Sheet 5 SPACKLING KNIFE TOO BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1.Field of the Invention This invention relates to a spackling knife toolof the type used by painters and plasterers. Such knives generallycomprise a handle to which is attached a relatively wide flexible bladefor applying to and smoothing out plaster or other patching material onsurfaces that are to be painted which have holes, gouges, cracks and thelike requiring repair. The present invention relates to spackling kniveswhich perform the combined functions of nail and tack pullers,screwdrivers, and picturehanger removers.

It is well known that in the course of preparing, for example, theinterior wall of a house for painting, it is often required that nailsor picture hangers be removed, that small cracks in the surface bepointed up in order to hold patching material, and that the workerfrequently has use for a screwdriver implement to pry open cans ofpatching material or paint or to turn screws. In most instances, theperson performing the work carries a separate tool to perform each ofthese functions. In some cases where the worker is equipped only with acommon spackling knife the edge of the blade is used to pry nails andpicture hangers from wall surfaces and even to pry open cans of patchingmaterial and paint. Not infrequently this results in the dulling,bending or chipping of the edge of the spackling knife blade, thusrendering the tool useless for its designed purpose of making smoothfinished repairs to defects in the surface.

Attempts in the prior art to overcome these problems by combiningseveral of the above tool functions into a single spackling knife toolhave resulted in combination tools which may perform only one additionalfunction other than that of the ordinary spackling knife or haveresulted in complex constructions requiring numerous parts which aremoveable with respect to each other. Such complex tools are expensiveand they often are awkward to use and easily broken under everydayworking conditions.-

2. Prior Art U. S. Pat. No. 699,207 Moe discloses a combination toolcomprised of a putty knife to the handle of which are pivotally attacheda screwdriver member and a member carrying a pair of claws. Each memberto be operative must be pivotally swung to a position away from thehandle of the putty knife. In addition to the pivotal members the tooldisclosed in Moe requires a number of locking elements in order to holdthe members locked in their operative positions.

U. S. Pat. No. 1,779,293 Rodgers discloses a painters implementcomprised of a putty knife carried by one end of the handle, the otherend of the handle having attached thereto a separate element whichcombines a hammering surface and a claw opening for drawing tacks andpoints.

In U. S. Pat. No. 1,277,290 Campbell, there is disclosed a combinationtool in which one sheet metal ele ment comprises a blade and ascrewdriver at either end thereof. The element is pivoted on a handlemember. In this tool, the element must be rotated to one position toemploy the blade as a putty or plastering knife and to another positionto use the screwdriver element. A notched portion of the handle end maybe'used to pull tacks.

In U. S. Pat. No. 825,063 Lawbaugh, a putty knife tool whichincorporates in the handle an extendable and retractable tack pullerthat also serves as a screwdriver is disclosed. In this case, two springmeans are required in order to make operative the tack puller andscrewdriver means. In addition, when utilized as a screwdriver, twistingforces are exerted on the ends of the claws of the tack puller whichcould easily bend the claws making the device inoperative for drawingout tacks.

In U. S. Pat. No. 1,277,767 Stafford there is disclosed a putty knifethe handle of which has hammer and claw portions. The claws are locatedin parallel relationship with the long side of the handle, a portion ofthe handle under the claws being notched out. Grasping of a nail or tackhead by the claw members is extremely difficult because of the positionof the claws.

SUMMARY or THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there isprovided an improved plasterers spackling knife which is simplyconstructed, has no moving parts and performs the function of thespackling knife, a nail puller, a picturehanger puller, and ascrewdriver, as well as providing means for pointing up or gouging outrelatively small cracks in surfaces to receive patching materials. Thecombination tool of the present invention usually comprises only threeparts, a blade and two handle sections. The spackling knife portion ofthe blade is relatively wide and tapers to a base extending into a shankmember which is encased between two handle portions, a top handleportion and a bottom handle portion. At the end of the shank portionopposite the wide blade end, there is formed a chisel point which servesas a screwdriver. On both side edges of the shank portion of the bladewhich extends slightly beyond the handle portions are tapered slotsformed generally perpendicular to the longituinal axis of the shankportion. These are tapered to relatively narrow apexes. Adjacent eachsuch slot and formed by the part of the edge of the shank portionbetween each slot and the end of the shank portion is a pointed armwhich serves to pry out picture hangers to be removed from surfaces andwhich may be utilized to gouge out fine hairline cracks in the surfaceto be repaired. Behind the screwdriver chisel point, a longitudinallyoriented section of the shank portion is depressed below the plane ofthe blade to form a nail puller. The nail puller has two parallel sidesthe top of which are connected to the main part of the shank portion ofthe blade and the bottom edges of which are inclined from the lower endsto upper ends which connect with the planar portion of the main part ofthe shank portion inwardly of the end of the shank portion at the chiselpoint. The bottom of the nail puller is connected to the side walls andhas a generally circular aperture therein at its lowermost area which isinward from the end of the shank portion. The side of the circularaperture towards the end of the shank portion is formed into a taperedslot which extends into the inclined portion of the bottom of the nailpuller.

The chisel point may extend outwardly from the end of the shank portionin the same plane thereof or alternately may extend at a generally rightangle from the plane of the shank. In the latter case the chisel pointpreferably does not extend beyond a longitudinal extension of the.surface of the handle.-

- side of the shank member in the same manner as the top portion of thehandle covers the other side of the shank member except that at thelower end of the bot tom portion of the handle a central U-shapedopening is formed therein to accomodate the nail puller which extendsbelow the plane of the shank member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the accompanying drawing:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the spackling knife tool of the presentinvention viewed from the bottom thereof.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the tool shown in FIG. ll.

FIG. 3 is a partial section taken along the longitudinal axis of thetool of FIG. 1 and showing the tool used to pull a nail from a surface.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the tool shown in FIGS. 1 through 3 withthe handle members removed.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a portion of the bottom of the blademember of an alternate embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the blade of FIG. 5 taken along lines 66of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a portion of the spackling knife tool showingan alternate embodiment of the chisel point.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the tool shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along lines 9-9 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the blade member of the embodiment ofthe invention shown in FIGS. 7 9.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in the accompanyingdrawing, the spackling knife tool 2 of the present invention generallycomprises a blade 4 having a wide end 6 which is utilized for spacklingoperations. The blade 4 tapers from the spackling end 6 to a relativelynarrow shank portion 10 which is enclosed within a handle 8. The handle8 is comprised of two parts, a bottom 12 and a top 14 which ordinarilyare made of wood or plastic material. The two parts 12 and 14 of thehandle 8 are secured to the shank portion 10 of the blade 14 by means ofrivets 18 or similar fastening means which pass through apertures 16 inthe shank portion 10 of the blade 4 and corresponding apertures in thehandle parts 12 and 14. As shown in FIG. 1, the bottom part 12 of thehandle 8 has a generally U-shaped cut-out 20 to accomodate the nailremover portion of the tool described below.

As shown in the drawing, the shank portion 10 of the blade 4 extendsbeyond the end of the handle 8. Each side edge of the shank portion 10of the blade 4 has formed therein a curved and tapered slot 22 whichterminates in an apex 24. Below the slots 22, each side of the shankportion 10 between the slot 22 and end of portion 10 if formed into atapered pointed arm portion 26. The tapered pointed arm portion 26 andslots 22 are dimensioned so that the portions 26 may be inserted up toapexes 24 into the openings in common picture hangers.

Extending below the plane of the blade 4, but formed integrallytherewith along the longitudinal axis of the blade 4 is a nail pullerthat is accomodated with the U- shaped cut-out opening 20 in the bottompart 12 of the handle 8. The nail puller is formed by pressing the shankportion 10 to form a back wall 28, side walls 29, and bottom 30 whichextends from the base of the back wall 28 into upwardly inclined curvedramp 32 which merges into the end 34 of the shank portion 10 of theblade. The bottom 30 has an opening 40 comprising a generally circularaperture 38 formed therein to accomodate the heads of nails. The side ofthe circular aperture 38 adjacent the inclined ramp 32 opens into thetapered slot 42 which extends longitudinally into ramp 32 as shown.

Extending from the end 34 of the shank portion 10 in the same planethereof is a tapered screwdriver chisel point 36.

In the embodiment thus described, the blade 4 comprising the spacklingportion of the blade, the nail puller, picture hanger remover, andscrewdriver are integrally formed from a single piece of metal by knownpressing, cutting, and tempering techniques. The handle parts 12 and 14preferably are made of a molded plastic or wood. They may be riveted tothe shank 10 of the blade 4 as shown or secured to the shank 10 byadhesives.

The pointed arms 26 terminate within extensions of the side edges ofshank 10 and the handle 8 which greatly minimizes the possibility of thepointed arms 26 catching on the material of a workers pocket whencarrying the tool in his pocket.

The spackling knife 2 as described is a very useful tool for paintersand plasterers. The end 6 of the blade 8 serves as a patching tool forsmoothing plaster or other patching material. The nail puller whichextends from the bottom side of the shank 10 of the blade 4 through theopening 20 in the handle portion 12 is very convenient to use comparedto nail pullers of prior art combination tools. In FIG. 3 the tool isshown removing a nail 52 from a surface. The nail head is in the slotportion of the aperture 38 and the handle 8 of the tool is rotated inthe direction indicated by the arrow.

As mentioned the pointed arms 26 of the picture hanger remover may alsobe utilized to gouge out fine cracks to receive patching materials.

In FIGS. 5 and 6, there is shown an alternate embodiment of the nailpuller portion of the tool. In this embodiment, the nail puller isdesignated as 44, and is formed from a separately formed piece of matal46 which is secured to the shank portion 10' of the blade by rivets 48through the flange portions 50 which are formed at right angles to theside walls 29. The bottom 30 has a nail aperture 38 formed thereinextending longitudinally into the upwardly inclined ramp 32. The ramp32' terminates behind the chisel point 36' formed at the end of theshank 10. While a back wall 28 is shown, it is understood that the endof the metal part 46 indicated by the wall 28' could alternately beopen, thus simplifying the metal stamping operation.

The picture hanger remover is formed on the shank 10 as in the firstembodiment by the tapered slots 22 terminating at the apexes 24' and thepoints 26.

The shank portion 10' in this embodiment differs from the shank portion10 of the first embodiment in not having the nail puller pressed from itand has apertures formed in it to accomodate the rivets 48. Since themetal of the shank 10' is not pressed to form the nail puller the endportion 34 (FIG. 4) form which the screwdriver chisel point 36 (36) andthe picture hanger remover points 26 (26') extensions will be stronger.

In FIGS. 7 10, there is shown an alternate embodiment of the screwdriverchisel point of the tool. In this embodiment, the chisel point is formedat a generally right angle to the plane of the blade. In thisembodiment, when the picture hanger removers are being used, the chiselpoint of the screwdriver will not point towards the surface beingtreated. This eliminates the possibility of the chisel point screwdrivergouging a hole in the surface when the picture hanger remover is beingused. In FIGSs 7 10, the shank portion of the blade is shown at 10"enclosed by the handle 8" comprised of the bottom part 12" and the toppart 14". The handle parts 12" and 14" are secured to the shank portion10" by rivets 18" which pass through apertures 16" in the shank portion10". Each side edge of the shank portion 10" has a curved and taperedslot 22" formed therein. The slot terminates at the apex 24". Below theslots 22" between the slots 22" and the end of shank portion 10 areformed tapered pointed arms 26".

As in the first embodiment, the nail puller is formed integrally fromthe shankportion 10" and comprises a back wall 28", side walls 29", anda bottom 30" extending from the base of the back wall 28" into anupwardly inclined ramp 32' The bottom 30" has formed therein generallycircular aperture 38" to receive nail heads. The circular aperture 38"leads into the tapered slot 42" which extends longitudinally into theramp 32". The inclined ramp 32" curves upwardly into the plane of shankportion 10''. An extension 54" termi- I nating in chisel point 36"extends above the plane of the shank member 10" at a generally rightangle to the plane of the shank portion 10". The end of the chisel point36" preferably terminates within the margin of the top surface of thehandle part 14" to minimize the tendency for the end 36 to snag in aworker's clothing when the tool is carried in a workers pocket. In thepresent embodiment, the orientation of the chisel point an" eliminatesthe possibility of the chisel point gouging holes in the surface to betreated when the arms 26" are utilized to pry out picture hangers. Theoperation of the nail puller in this embodiment is the same as inprevious embodiments as shown in FIG. 9 wherein the tool is being usedto remove a nail 52".

The tool of the present invention is simple in its construction, has nomoving parts, and yet performs the multiple functions of mostly all thevarious tools employed in preparing and patching walls prior to paintingor paperhanging.

While the invention has been explained by detailed description ofcertain specific embodiments, it is understood that variousmodifications and substitutions can be made in any of them within thescope of the appended claims which are intended also to includeequivalents of such embodiments.

What is claimed is:

1. A hand tool comprising a flat metal blade member having a top and abottom surface, said blade member having a relatively wide spacklingblade end portion which tapers into a longitudinally extending shankportion, a chisel point screwdriver at the end of said shank portion, apicture hanger remover formed in a side edge of said shank portionadjacent the end of said shank portion, said picture hanger removercomprising a tapered slot extending inwardly from the edge of said sideedge of said shank portion and terminating at an apex, and a taperedpointed arm portion of said shank between said slot and the end of saidshank portion and forming the wall of said slot adjacent said end ofsaid shank portion, and a nail puller on the bottom surface of saidshank portion of said blade member and oriented longitudinally to saidshank member, said nail puller having a pair of spaced side wallsdepending from the bottom surface of said shank portion, a bottomconnected to the bases of said side walls, said bottom extending into anupwardly inclined ramp which ramp terminates at its upper end inwardlyof said chisel point at the end of said shank portion and a nailaperture in said bottom extending in the form of a tapered slot intosaid ramp.

2. A tool as claimed in claim 1 wherein the top and bottom surfaces ofsaid shank portion have a top handle part and a bottom handle partattached to each respectively, said handle parts terminating short ofthe 0 end of said shank portion whereby said picture hanger puller isnot covered by said handle parts.

3. A tool as claimed in claim 2 wherein said bottom handle part has aU-shaped cut-out at the end thereof to accomodate said nail puller.

4. A tool as claimed in claim 3 wherein said nail puller is formedintegrally with said shank portion.

5. A tool as claimed in claim 3 wherein a picture hanger remover isformed in both side edges of said shank portion.

6. A tool as claimed in claim 5 wherein the tapered pointed portions ofsaid picture hanger removers terminate within extensions of the sides ofsaid handle.

7. A tool as claimed in claim 1 wherein said nail puller is formedintegrally with said shank portion.

8. A tool as claimed in claim 1 wherein a picture hanger remover isformed in both side edges of said shank portion.

9. A hand tool comprising a flat metal blade member having a top and abottom surface, said blade member having a relatively wide spacklingblade end portion which tapers into a longitudinally extending shankportion, a chisel point screwdriver at the end of said shank portion,said chisel point extending from said shank portion at a generally rightangle from the plane of said shank portion; a picture hanger removerformed in a side edge of said shank portion adjacent the end of saidshank portion, said picture hanger remover comprising a tapered slotextending inwardly from the edge of said side edge of said shank portionand terminating at an apex, and a tapered pointed arm portion of saidshank between said slot and the end of said shank portion and formingthe wall of said slot adjacent said end of said shank portion, and anail puller on the bottom surface of said shank portion of said blademember and oriented longitudinally to said shank member, said nailpuller having a pair of spaced side walls depending from the bottomsurface of said shank portion, a bottom connected to the bases of saidside walls, said bottom extending into an upwardly inclined ramp whichramp terminates at its upper end in the plane of said shank portion; anda nail aperture in said bottom extending in the form of a tapered slotinto said ramp.

10. A tool as claimed in claim 9 wherein the top and bottom surfaces ofsaid shank portion have a top handle part and a bottom handle partattached to each respectively, said handle parts terminating short ofthe hanger remover is formed in both side edges of said shank portion.

15. A tool as claimed in claim 10 wherein a picture hanger remover isformed in both side edges of said shank portion.

16. A tool as claimed in claim 15 wherein the tapered pointed portionsof said picture hanger removers terminate within extensions of the sidesof said handle.

=l= =i= l i i

1. A hand tool comprising a flat metal blade member having a top and abottom surface, said blade member having a relatively wide spacklingblade end portion which tapers into a longitudinally extending shankportion, a chisel point screwdriver at the end of said shank portion, apicture hanger remover formed in a side edge of said shank portionadjacent the end of said shank portion, said picture hanger removercomprising a tapered slot extending inwardly from the edge of said sideedge of said shank portion and terminating at an apex, and a taperedpointed arm portion of said shank between said slot and the end of saidshank portion and forming the wall of said slot adjacent said end ofsaid shank portion, and a nail puller on the bottom surface of saidshank portion of said blade member and oriented longitudinally to saidshank member, said nail puller having a pair of spaced side wallsdepending from the bottom surface of said shank portion, a bottomconnected to the bases of said side walls, said bottom extending into anupwardly inclined ramp which ramp terminates at its upper end inwardlyof said chisel point at the end of said shank portion and a nailaperture in said bottom extending in the form of a tapered slot intosaid ramp.
 2. A tool as claimed in claim 1 wherein the top and bottomsurfaces of said shank portion have a top handle part and a bottomhandle part attached to each respectively, said handle parts terminatingshort of the end of said shank portion whereby said picture hangerpuller is not covered by said handle Parts.
 3. A tool as claimed inclaim 2 wherein said bottom handle part has a U-shaped cut-out at theend thereof to accomodate said nail puller.
 4. A tool as claimed inclaim 3 wherein said nail puller is formed integrally with said shankportion.
 5. A tool as claimed in claim 3 wherein a picture hangerremover is formed in both side edges of said shank portion.
 6. A tool asclaimed in claim 5 wherein the tapered pointed portions of said picturehanger removers terminate within extensions of the sides of said handle.7. A tool as claimed in claim 1 wherein said nail puller is formedintegrally with said shank portion.
 8. A tool as claimed in claim 1wherein a picture hanger remover is formed in both side edges of saidshank portion.
 9. A hand tool comprising a flat metal blade memberhaving a top and a bottom surface, said blade member having a relativelywide spackling blade end portion which tapers into a longitudinallyextending shank portion, a chisel point screwdriver at the end of saidshank portion, said chisel point extending from said shank portion at agenerally right angle from the plane of said shank portion; a picturehanger remover formed in a side edge of said shank portion adjacent theend of said shank portion, said picture hanger remover comprising atapered slot extending inwardly from the edge of said side edge of saidshank portion and terminating at an apex, and a tapered pointed armportion of said shank between said slot and the end of said shankportion and forming the wall of said slot adjacent said end of saidshank portion, and a nail puller on the bottom surface of said shankportion of said blade member and oriented longitudinally to said shankmember, said nail puller having a pair of spaced side walls dependingfrom the bottom surface of said shank portion, a bottom connected to thebases of said side walls, said bottom extending into an upwardlyinclined ramp which ramp terminates at its upper end in the plane ofsaid shank portion; and a nail aperture in said bottom extending in theform of a tapered slot into said ramp.
 10. A tool as claimed in claim 9wherein the top and bottom surfaces of said shank portion have a tophandle part and a bottom handle part attached to each respectively, saidhandle parts terminating short of the end of said shank portion wherebysaid picture hanger puller is not covered by said handle parts.
 11. Atool as claimed in claim 10 wherein said bottom handle part has aU-shaped cut-out at the end thereof to accommodate said nail puller. 12.A tool as claimed in claim 9 wherein said nail puller is formedintegrally with said shank portion.
 13. A tool as claimed in claim 10wherein said nail puller is formed integrally with said shank portion.14. A tool as claimed in claim 9 wherein a picture hanger remover isformed in both side edges of said shank portion.
 15. A tool as claimedin claim 10 wherein a picture hanger remover is formed in both sideedges of said shank portion.
 16. A tool as claimed in claim 15 whereinthe tapered pointed portions of said picture hanger removers terminatewithin extensions of the sides of said handle.